Wednesday, October 27, 2010

@jackiness: The Strange Magic of Twitter Reply

Yesterday, a member of the Palo Alto Research Center posted that he was looking for someone to work 10 hours a week or so, paid social media training. I replied; no answer. I've gotten rather used to influential people ignoring my replies to them. I try not to overuse the function. I'll do it once, and it they ignore me, I leave them alone after that. But I have been exploring the potential of this new medium to see if I can join the conversation going on between these really awesome people.

So, this morning I noticed that the CEO of ZURB had posted yet again that they are hiring for Customer Service. I immediately responded with: "@ @ I still think I would make a fab CSR for you guys, but didn't make the first cut. Maybe in a few years!"

I didn't expect a reply since he's clearly a very busy guy. But lo and behold, a few minutes later: "@ Thanks for reaching out! There was an incredible response- it's always difficult to cut talented people."


The guy took a few seconds out of a busy day to respond to my tweet. This completely made my day. I am continually surprised by the in-the-gut reaction to the social exchanges we make online. Oddly, "Thanks for reaching out" is the same response I received, word-for-word, from the HR person at Ning, last week. Even the language divides the in-speak group from the out-speak group!

Likewise, I have continued to read Chris Brogan's book, Trust Agents, which is taking me much longer than it usually takes me to finish a book. This is because it's more of a guidebook or manual packed with information and tips, and every five minutes I end up putting it down and jumping over to the computer in excitement to try out one of his suggestions. This is an awesome book for N.A.D.D. (Nerd Attention Deficit Disorder) people like me.

Midway through Brogan's book, he suggests that readers put the book down and go to a service like Twitter and update their status. His suggestion is to write "Reading Trust Agents," because it's short and simple. He also says that this will enable him to find you, because he will be listening. So I did. I put the book down, went and updated my status to "@ Reading _Trust Agents_ :) Thank you for the first commonsense guide I've found to this strange new world!" And you know what? Within a few minutes he had tweeted back to say thank you. How cool is that? He really does what he says he will. It knocked my socks off.

It's something to remember. These little exchanges have a lot of power. I have to figure out how to use this force for good when it comes to customer experience.

I had a perfect case this morning, in a pleasant phone call with a customer. I've been itching to move on so badly that I forgot there are still things to learn where I am.

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